NEWS |
round up
SAFETY & SECURITY AN INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (SALTO) team of experts has completed a review of long term operational safety at Bulgaria’s Kozloduy NPP. The follow-up mission was requested by the Bulgarian government to review Kozloduy’s response to recommendations and suggestions made during an earlier SALTO mission in 2021.
AN INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission said the Government of the Netherlands and the national regulatory bodies have demonstrated their commitment to continuous improvement in nuclear and radiation safety.
COMPANY NEWS EDF CEO LUC Remont has informed managers that the group’s nuclear activities will be reorganised to redress the recurring problems that led to production cuts in 2022. Reuters cited an EDF spokesperson as saying a reorganisation of the nuclear division had been announced with the aim of ushering in “deep change” so that each activity’s responsibilities are clearly defined.
US ENERGYSOLUTIONS IS increasing its capabilities to support US nuclear plant life extension and new plant construction, and the energy industry’s 2050 net zero goals. EnergySolutions says it is leveraging its existing nuclear services infrastructure and has assembled an experienced and proven team of management for the expanded service offering.
Japan
Restart of Joyo fast reactor approved Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has approved a screening report concluding that the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s Joyo experimental fast reactor has met new regulatory standards, which are a prerequisite for its restart. The report will be formalised after a public comment period. The JAEA aims to restart Joyo, located in the
town of Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture, at the end of fiscal 2024. The sodium-cooled fast reactor began operation in 1977, and is Japan’s only fast reactor since the closure of Monju in 2016. Monju, which achieved criticality in 1994, was shut down in 1995 after a sodium coolant leak and fire. It was restarted in 2010 but was shut down three months later after a fuel handling machine was accidentally dropped into the reactor during a refuelling outage. Joyo was shut down in 2007 after a test subassembly became jammed in the reactor vessel Special equipment had to be designed to retrieve it, which finally took place in 2014. In the report, the NRA confirmed that Joyo is equipped with a device to detect sodium leaks, as well as nitrogen gas equipment to be used in the event of such leaks. It concluded that the reactor meets fire safety standards.
United Kingdom Geological disposal site study UK Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) has begun a wide range of studies to evaluate sites that could be suitable to host a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). The studies will be conducted over several years to help ensure a GDF can be constructed, operated, and closed safely and securely. Each potential location will be assessed against a number of siting factors including, safety and security, community, environment, engineering feasibility, transport, geology and value for money. NWS, launched in January 2022, brings
together the expertise of site operator Low Level Waste Repository Limited (LLWR), Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) developer Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) Limited
and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA’s) Integrated Waste Management Programme. NWS is not a legal entity but provides strategic oversight over the operation and development of these businesses through a management board governance structure. NWS experts and specialists from the
supply chain will initially evaluate Community Partnership areas through non-intrusive activities such as geophysical surveys and desk- based studies of existing data on things like the local geology, transport infrastructure and local power supply. Four Community Partnerships have
already been established in Allerdale, South Copeland and Mid Copeland in Cumbria, and in Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire. The studies will focus on these areas. NWS says the work will be supported by service providers specialising in data gathering, optioneering and design, assessment, and evaluation. A site evaluation service contract has been awarded setting out a five-year framework of a comprehensive range of site evaluation services. Detailed investigative work will subsequently
be conducted for communities that progress to the later steps in the process, including drilling boreholes, to understand more about the geology where a GDF could be built. The information collected during these studies will support the applications to carry out borehole drilling at locations selected for further work and, pending confirmation of a GDF location, the necessary regulatory permissions. “This work signifies progress in the GDF
siting process”, said NWS Major Permissions Programme Lead, Malcolm Orford. “We are now assessing a range of information to help build our confidence about whether the current
locations...could host a GDF.” Even after a suitable site is selected, the
process could take 10-15 years. A decision to develop a GDF cannot be taken until the potential host community has commented and given consent through a Test of Public Support. NWS emphasised that the GDF programme requires both a suitable site and a willing community.
A leader in nuclear instrumentation, Reuter-Stokes offers more than 60 years’ experience in the field, with thousands of neutron and gamma detectors deployed. This depth of experience has established Reuter-Stokes as an excellent operational partner, continually enhancing instruments to maintain excellent reliability, sensitivity and reduced service cycles.
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10 | August 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
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